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Embattled Oak Bluffs Building Inspector May New Seek a Town Retirement Deal

Embattled Oak Bluffs Building Inspector May Now Seek a Town Retirement Deal

By JAMES KINSELLA

After spending much of the last 12 months in a political hot seat,
Richard Mavro is reportedly preparing to close the door on his 16-year
tenure as the Oak Bluffs building inspector.

Mr. Mavro, who has been on a medical leave of absence from his job since
March 18, is in discussions with town officials about taking either a
regular or medical retirement from the town, according to information
obtained by the Gazette.

In return for stepping down from his job, Mr. Mavro -- whose job
performance has come under widespread criticism during the past year --
would receive a $25,000 payment from the town.

"I have to give you a no-comment on it. If any decisions are made they
will be made in executive session. Nothing is finalized," said selectman
and board chairman Gregory Coogan.

Mr. Mavro could not be reached for comment.

Despite his medical leave as building inspector, Mr. Mavro has continued
to drive Oak Bluffs students on a school bus to and from the town school
on Tradewinds avenue. He drives the bus for a private company that holds
the transportation contract with the school.

Last year, Mr. Mavro's gross wages from the town were $50,419.

Should Mr. Mavro qualify for retirement based on an accident or the
job-related creation or worsening of an existing condition, he would
receive, until his death, payments based on 72 per cent of his last 12
months pay from the town of Oak Bluffs. These retirement payments would
be mostly untaxed, said Cynthia Schilling, a member of the Dukes County
retirement board.

Under a medical disability retirement, a person in the system would
receive 50 per cent of the last 12 months of pay. These payments would
be taxed.

Ordinary retirement is based on the highest 36 consecutive months of
earnings, and is calculated on a formula that takes into account age of
retirement.

Mr. Mavro, who has served as the town building inspector since 1989, is
in the middle of a three-year appointment that expires next April.

Over the past year, he has been criticized for his performance in two
high-profile cases.

He allowed the construction of a single-car garage last year on Seaview
avenue extension to morph into a much larger structure that galvanized
North Bluff neighbors in protest.

More recently, Mr. Mavro failed to stop the demolition this past winter
of a historic building on Circuit avenue. First, the building inspector
allowed a contractor to work on the downtown building without a written
building permit. The contractor later demolished the building at 45
Circuit avenue in violation of town bylaws aimed at protecting the
historic integrity of the downtown.

But it was clearly the North Bluff garage controversy that thrust Mr.
Mavro into the most trouble of the last year. Town officials, including
selectmen, historic district commissioners and members of the zoning
board of appeals all raised questions about the building inspector's
actions.

During two board of appeals hearings last July regarding the garage
owned by businessman and restaurateur Joseph G. Moujabber, zoning board
members were sharply critical of the lack of detailed plans and any
paper trail that showed approvals for a project whose scope had clearly
widened from simply a $22,000 garage.

"I'd like to see a site plan with elevations and setbacks," said zoning
board member William (Chuck) Sullivan, who described the building
records as "“scantily filled-out."

Zoning board chairman Gail Barmakian last July expressed her contempt
for how Mr. Moujabber behaved and how the building department appeared
to exercise little oversight.

Selectmen began weighing in on the controversy in August. Selectman
Kerry Scott wondered aloud why Mr. Mavro was absent from the zoning
board hearings on the Moujabber garage.

“It was his action being appealed. So many questions came up,” Ms. Scott
said a week ago. “It would have been helpful if he was there.”

When selectmen invited Mr. Mavro to a meeting in early August for
questioning, they were blunt.

Mr. Coogan asked the building inspector: “In this situation in the North
Bluff, can you explain how we got from the original request for a small
building to where we are?”

Despite claims by Mr. Moujabber’s Boston attorney that his client had
communicated with Mr. Mavro as the garage project expanded, Mr. Mavro
mentioned nothing about updated plans or new applications and approvals.

Instead, he argued that once he issues a permit, it’s not his job to
monitor compliance until a homeowner calls him for an inspection.

“I have no right to tell anyone what to do,” Mr. Mavro told selectmen
last summer. “As a citizen and taxpayer, I may not like it at all, but
I’m kind of stuck. I can’t cite someone for what they might do.”

In June of last year, Mr. Mavro came under pressure from another town
board, the Cottage City historic district commission.

Commission members wrote a letter to Ms. Sharpe last spring, citing two
examples of building projects in the new historic district that Mr.
Mavro failed to refer to them: a large deck four feet off the ground and
the installation of vinyl-clad, single pane windows.

“The Cottage City Historic District Commission requests the board of
selectmen require the building official to observe the following
language of the district bylaw,” stated a letter dated May 20 from
commission chairman S. David Wilson.

Earlier this year, neighbors of a Dempster Park property hired a Boston
lawyer to challenge Mr. Mavro's decisions regarding another garage
project that appeared to be larger than originally permitted.

While the past year has been a tough one for Mr. Mavro, he is not
unaccustomed to being at the center of a controversy. Back in 2000, his
actions aroused the ire of the Massachusetts Department of Environmental
Protection (DEP) when he granted a building permit to allow the
expansion of the Wesley Hotel, even though DEP rulings prohibited any
additional sewage flow from the hotel.

“The building inspector went ahead and issued a building permit even
though he was carbon copied on the letter that said the addition would
represent an increase in flow," an engineer from the state agency said
at the time.